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About Tornos

Tornos is a tour company that owes its success to Lucknow, thus it presents a resource site to tell the world about this beautiful, but forgotten city. Our endeavour is to project this northern Indian city that gave us immense support, love and courage in our start-up days.

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When in Lucknow, you ought to indulge in sinful act of eating the rich Awadhi Cuisine at the roadside eateries that promise a taste that one can not imagine in the up-market restaurants of Lucknow or outside. We at Tornos have planned a Culinary Walk of Lucknow by hand-picking just the best for you. more…Book now →

Heritage Walk

Lucknow is not just any other city, but a chapter that folds and unfolds itself each time one visits this epicenter of culture. Our Heritage Walk is just a translation of this, taking you into the lanes and by-lanes of Chowk, exploring the unexplored and explaining how vast a history, this city of superlatives holds. More on Heritage Walk…Book now →

‘Beyond Kebab’ Walk

Vegetarian cuisine in Lucknow is as rich as its non-vegetarian fare and held equally in high regard for its recipes and age-old traditions. This is yet another walking tour at lunch, but looks at Lucknow’s vegetarian fare beyond its stereotype Kebab Image. Check this out…Book now →

Victorian Walk

The Victorian era was a period of peace, prosperity and refined sensibilities for Britain. This was a period of Mutiny of 1857, that changed the way Indians and Britons lived, worked and thought. Hazratganj has witnessed all of this from the Victorian through the Edwardian times and then onto the 2nd World War and further. More…Book now →

Wajid Ali Shah Walk

On this walking tour we explore the Kaiserbagh Palace Complex, reconstruct the area with the help of old pictures and maps and as a cherry on the cake, we treat you over a cup of tea at the Kotwara House, that is a small part of Kaiserbagh, now an abode of the film maker Muzaffar Ali. Check this outBook now →

Sightseeing Tour

We pick you up in a car along with a tour guide, conduct this 6 hour guided tour of the city, visiting the monuments in the city including the British Residency, Asfi Imambara, Husainabad Imambara, Dilkusha & La Martiniere. The car picks you up from your hotel and drops you back to your hotel in the city. More…Book now →

Revisiting Lucknow of 1857-58

‘Revisiting Lucknow of 1857-58’ tour takes you through the routes followed by Havelock, Outarm and Colin Campbell. We visit the areas that were in focus during the siege of Lucknow, we understand how this bloodiest siege progressed to a conclusive end, but not without sacrifices from both the warring fronts. more…

Revisiting Cawnpore of 1857

On this very exclusive curated tour – ‘Revisiting Cawnpore of 1857’, we take you through the areas that were the focus of the siege, we try and understand how this bloodiest siege progressed to a conclusive end, when General Havelock freed Cawnpore of the shadows of the rebels. more…

Tea at The Tornos Studio

Read from the collection of books on the uprising of 1857. Tornos Studio houses the best collection of books on this subject and is indeed a great place to spend your afternoon reading from these. more…

Curated Dining at Kotwara House

Dining at Kotwara House in Lucknow is always a privileged pleasure. Home of Muzaffar & Meera Ali curates exclusive menu for he day and the food is prepared by their ancestral family cooks. Explore the Kotwara cuisine that majorly draws its inspiration from Awadhi and Mughlai feast. More…Reserve →

Dining at Mahmudabad House

Very few Royal Families in India are strongly rooted to their culinary traditions and Mahmudabad royalty being just one of the few. Each meal at Mahmudabad House is a celebration of their culinary finesse and the family is so very proud of not only the recipes but also the cooking methods that they have inherited. More…Reserve →

Tea with Nawab

How awesome it would be to meet a descendant of the Nawabs over an afternoon tea, talk to him about all that he has seen changing over the years, know about his family and experience the etiquettes, the mannerism and the art of speech that is mastered by Nawab himself. more…

La Martiniere Experiences

Experience the joy of the school life at La Martiniere and understand the 700 acres of estate. Envy the fact that you are not a Martinan. Vive La Martiniere !…

La Martiniere is no less than a living museum, where each corner has a story to be narrated. Decode…Book now →

Dine with Maharaja (Family Meal)

Dine with The Maharaja and his family in Lucknow, at his city palace. An opportunity to enjoy a live Kathak performance or learn some secret family recipes from Awadhi menu. This is the only Victorian style British influenced city palace in Lucknow. check this out…

COQUINA – experiential dining

Coquina is a concept of a small experiential home kitchen that specialises in local cuisine in small portions. Guests get a chance to learn about this Passion Cuisine, cook for themselves under expert supervision and learn the art of cooking an Awadhi Meal. more…

Curated Dining at Sheesh Mahal

Sheesh Mahal was home to the Nawabs of Awadh, though dilapidated and almost all of it reconstructed, what remains is the originality in their inherited recipes and the pride that the family takes in cooking everything themselves in their family kitchens with minimal help of servants and cooks. More…Reserve →

Kotwara Insight

A visit to Kotwara House (by Appointment) is in itself a revealing experience of sorts. Kotwara House is Lucknow abode of the legendary film maker, fashion designer, painter, poet, architect or rather call them ‘A couple with many feathers in their cap of creativity’, Raja Muzaffar & Meera Ali. more… Reserve →

Village Cuisine Experience

On this tour we take you to a countryside into a traditional Village, where you unlearn all that is urban and learn this traditional ethnic cooking from scratch, cook under supervision and enjoy a limited but a very unique cuisine that urbanized call ‘luxury’ know more, learn more…

Kite Flying

We take you on a rooftop, where you learn the art of flying kites and winning the match. You learn the vernacular dictum of this game and indulge in a real match. Kite flying enthusiasts of the city gather at one place and mesmerize you with old anecdotes connected to kite-flying. more…

Thursday Sufi Sojourn

Your guide will explain about this faith. Offer your respect to the grave inside this shrine, by way of ‘Chadar Poshi’. Also enjoy a seated session with the Qawals (devotional Sufi singers), while our expert translates the song that is played in the honour of the Sufi saint. more…

Mokshdayni Ayodhya Tours

We bring you two handcrafted curated experiential tours to Ayodhya, that are bundled with some great experiences including a river-side walk, a one hour boat travel from Faizabad to Ayodhya, an exclusive Aarti, experiential lunch, tea on the boat and a lot more. know more…

Colourful Dhobi Ghat

“They spend their lives trying to break a huge rock with a flimsy piece of cloth” It is rather so true to the Indian washer man who rhythmically beats clothes on the rocks placed on the river banks to clean them and reach your wardrobe. Washer-men colour the banks of river Gomti. more…

Golf in Lucknow

On this tour you not only play a game of golf, but also enjoy some bird watching with vivid varieties of birds that flock the area. Also watch the little ones go to school at La Martiniere and watch the boys assemble for their morning assembly that is indeed a pleasant sight to behold. more…

Oriental Walk

Not only that Lucknow is architecturally awesome but also well planned, quite like the way a capital should be. On this walking tour we not only explore the main landmarks of the Nawabi heritage, but also detail some nooks and corners in the periphery without which history of Lucknow is just incomplete. More…

Shophistory Walk

Walk in this this market will show you some of its bustling bazaars, that are so very exciting to understand and to shop at. Refugee Market is known to have given refuge to the business community from partitioned Pakistan and Swadeshi Market so very religiously stopped selling foreign goods when Mahatma Gandhi gave a call. more…

Threads of Lucknow

How awesome it is to learn about this craft from the men and women at a designer’s studio on a half-day hands-on experiential sojourn. Each guest gets a personal embroidery kit to learn the craft, a talk is delivered by a designer and to top it all, an authentic home-cooked Rastogi Lunch. Know More

Residency Reconstructed

On this 3 hours walking tour, we reconstruct the ruins within the complex, with the help of some rare pictures, building plans and maps. Also understand the events of 1857-58, with a focused reference to the Residency complex. More…Book now →

Luckluscious – Learn a dish

How about learning a dish from Lucknow, in Lucknow by a Lucknowite ? be it making a kabab or korma. Just one dish mastered to perfection. We give you a chance to do this at any local kitchen. More…

Day at Mahmudabad

We at Tornos plan your trip to Mahmudabad. This very exclusive tour will include a talk on the history of the family and a documentary; Privileged curated lunch at Muqeem Manzil in Qila; Tour of Bradari & the Library; Visit a few shrines and end it all with high-tea before returning to Lucknow. More…

Ram Vivah in Ayodhya

Just a 2 hours drive from Lucknow takes us to Ayodhya, an ancient religious city where Lord Rama was born. This city is deeply rooted to its traditions and customs, one of it being Ram Vivah or the Wedding of Lord Rama with Sita. This actually is ‘not to be missed’ event in Ayodhya. More…

Taste of Labour

We at Tornos have learnt to appreciate cuisine in all its forms and labourers’ cuisine being one of them – very basic, but a hearty meal that tastes quite different due to labour being one of its ingredients. We will take you to a construction site and you get to experience the dinner preparation just after the day’s labour. More…

Learn Calligraphy

On this experience we take you through a four hours step-by-step session in Urdu or Arabic using modern day instruments such as sketch pens, fountain pens, pencils etc. A session typically will provide a hands-on experience to participating guests. More…

More on Maharajas’ Express

Maharajas’ Express touches Lucknow on the last day of Indian Panorama itinerary. We at Tornos have two curated options to choose from. Treat your guests on Maharajas’ Express as a parting option and let them enjoy a bit more than others on the train. Option-1 & Option-2

Article Of The Month

Ismat Chughtai was a renowned Indian author, who wrote primarily in Urdu and was known for her bold feminist face and open writings in spite of the fact that she belonged to an illustrious Muslim family that may not have been orthodox, but surely would have adhered to the values of early 1900s of pre-independent […]

Walter Burley Griffin Tour

Griffin died in early 1937, at King George’s Medical College in Lucknow, leaving behind a legacy of some great works that survived and helped us in Lucknow to boast of a very strong Australian connection. Walter Burley Griffin is buried in Lucknow and some of his works still survive, giving an insight to an architect who designed the Australian capital Canberra. Tornos conducts a well researched, a special tour woven around Walter Burley Griffin’s Lucknow, with special visits to surviving buildings and sites where he built. A visit to his restored grave is also a part of this tour. This tour may also be merged with other interests and sightseeing tours in Lucknow. More…

Grave Tending – search, reconstruct, adopt

We at Tornos understand the sentiments of the families of the buried and offer our services as Grave Tenders. Since 1997 we have had a specialized research team that locates these graves on request, with certain mandatory inputs (we have located about 113 graves) and now can adopt these on behalf of the families abroad. Read…

Lecture Tours by Tornos – Lecture Insight

At Tornos we have a panel of experts drawn from different quarters, who are specialists in their own fields by virtue of their interest, reading, profession or experience. These lecturers come in as a Guest Speakers for special interest tourists, to talk to tourist groups or FITs on the subject for about two hours. This interactive lecture can be arranged over a casual afternoon tea or an evening cocktail, to enhance the academic value of the tour. More…

Chapaiya – birth place of Lord Swaminarayan

Its singular claim to fame is as the birthplace of Lord Swaminarayan. Making this village a pilgrim place for his followers world wide. Akshardham temples in Ahmedabad & Delhi (New Delhi) are dedicated to Swaminarayan. Gujratis are the main followers of this sect and regard Chappiya as a very sacred place to visit. More..

The Tornos Club

At Tornos we celebrate intellect. As a part of this celebration we have created a few clubs of like-minded individuals who share, learn and contribute to the subject of their choice. We meet regularly at The Tornos Studio and at The Tornos Terrace to experience the joys of intellect and talk about our favourite subjects. Enrich yourself intellectually !

Meal Planning – We plan what you eat and where

Meal planning is an art, specially when you are planning a meal from the a-la-carte menu of a specialty cuisine which may not contain your native food items. Though a lot of description goes in about the preparation and a sort of showcased recipe too is a part of the menu book of all good restaurants, but seldom do they rate their own stuff, putting you always at a risk of ordering some lunatic stuff and ending your meal with a negative impression. Know More…